cypripedium

[ sip-ruh-pee-dee-uhm ]

noun
  1. any orchid of the genus Cypripedium, comprising the lady's-slippers.

Origin of cypripedium

1
1765–75; <New Latin, equivalent to Latin Cypri(a) Venus + -pedi--ped + -um neuter ending

Words Nearby cypripedium

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use cypripedium in a sentence

  • On the other hand, a double-flowered form is possibly in embryo, and before the next century closes the cypripedium acaule Ait.

  • But here I must be specific, and in truth cypripedium insigne Sanderae is not to be so described.

    The Woodlands Orchids | Frederick Boyle
  • Every evening they brought in a load of orchids more or less valuable, but never cypripedium Curtisii.

    The Woodlands Orchids | Frederick Boyle
  • cypripedium Curtisii was selling in London at the moment for many guineas—a small plant too.

    The Woodlands Orchids | Frederick Boyle
  • A good many of them probably received commissions to find cypripedium Spicerianum.

    The Woodlands Orchids | Frederick Boyle

British Dictionary definitions for cypripedium

cypripedium

/ (ˌsɪprɪˈpiːdɪəm) /


noun
  1. any orchid of the genus Cypripedium, having large flowers with an inflated pouchlike lip: See also lady's-slipper

  2. any cultivated tropical orchid of the genus Paphiopedilum, having yellow, green, or brownish-purple waxy flowers

Origin of cypripedium

1
C18: from New Latin, from Latin Cypria the Cyprian, that is, Venus + pēs foot (that is, Venus' slipper)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012